Anilyia (3 page)

Tathan saw Sir Danth talking to a merchant
opening a stall for the day’s business. The knight was effortlessly
carrying a heavy crate out for the man while they talked.

Sir Danth was from Morhain, an ancient
country now in ruins. An event called ‘The Great Disappearing’
wiped out his people. Sixteen hundred years earlier, he had been
charged with guarding the Crown of Morhain.

When Tathan, Liselle and Vevin arrived at
the vault in Aaltdiin, Sir Danth begged to go with them and even
broke his vow to guard the crown, not knowing someone had dug a
hole to the back of the vault and stolen everything within. His
body had decayed and dissolved long ago. Now only his spiritual
awareness occupied the powerful magic armor he wore.

“Ho there, Master Tathan,” Sir Danth called
out. “How goes your roaming? Did you find anything exciting?”

Tathan decided not to discuss his fruitless
chase of a nameless blur. “Nope. Just more buildings with wings and
plazas with statues.” He grabbed a box to help.

The merchant was a dark skinned man, most
likely from a desert tribe. He listened to the exchange and then
spoke in a rasping voice, “Aye, that’s mostly what there is around
town: buildings, wings and statues. Sometimes I wish something
exciting would happen, like that princess being kidnapped.”

The statement piqued Tathan’s curiosity. “A
kidnapped princess you say?”

Sir Danth carried out another crate.
“Franklin here was telling me the story before you came by. It
seems a princess has been kidnapped from the Kingdom of
Mayncal.”

The merchant nodded as he set up an awning
over his goods. “Yeah. It’s a rumor I heard from a couple of
travelers arriving from the east last week. They told me the
princess was to marry a prince from the Kingdom of Brindlyn in
order to forge an alliance between the two countries.”

“Haven’t those kingdoms been hostile toward
each other for centuries?” Tathan asked.

“That they have.” The merchant wiped sweat
off his forehead. “I don’t know the whole story of why they’re
fighting. I believe there was something about a river and a dog
attacking each other centuries ago or something like that.”

“I thought it was a dove and a mountain that
attacked each other.” Tathan had heard too many different versions
about why kingdoms went to war.

“Could’ve been. It’s hard to tell sometimes.
Kingdoms fight each other for the silliest reasons.” The merchant
began putting various leather goods from the east out on his
tables. “In any case, the princess was supposed to marry the prince
soon.”

“I do love a good wedding,” Sir Danth said.
“There is always laughter and dancing.” The knight took Tathan by
the arms and began dancing in circles outside of the merchant’s
stall. Franklin and a few nearby merchants laughed. Tathan rolled
his eyes as Sir Danth twirled him in a circle. Then the knight
bowed to him and Tathan bowed back. The merchants applauded,
cheering heartily.

“Do they know who kidnapped the princess?”
Tathan asked the merchant.

“Some suspect Emperor Kravka is behind it,”
Franklin said. “If the two kingdoms unite, it’ll be much more
difficult for Iynath to conquer them.”

“A typical strategy to weaken kingdoms,” Sir
Danth agreed. “I’d rather have a wedding with dancing.” He
attempted to grab Tathan again, but this time the rogue was ready
and tumbled out of the way, causing the merchant to snicker.

“Weddings are fun,” Franklin agreed.
“Anyway, I don’t know what’ll happen or if the rumors are even
true.” He shrugged. “That’s about the only news I’ve heard around
here recently. Thank you, gentlemen, for your help setting up.” The
merchant clapped them both on the shoulder and went back into his
stall to finish.

Sir Danth leaned near Tathan as they walked
back to the inn. “I found that bit of information very interesting,
didn’t you?”

They strolled past merchants who were
finishing the last preparations for the day’s business. “It’s not a
big deal. Princesses are kidnapped all the time. I’m fairly certain
it’s part of the job,” Tathan said with a wry grin.

Sir Danth chuckled and gave Tathan a
friendly thump on the back of the shoulder, causing him to stumble
forward. “Perhaps that is true,” the knight said while Tathan
rubbed the sore shoulder. “But rescuing princesses is just as much
a knight’s job as getting kidnapped is for a princess.” Sir Danth
pointed a finger to emphasize his argument. “I’m not saying we
should run to save the girl. I’m just saying that once we’re done,
it might be worth checking into.”

Tathan thought about it for a moment. Saving
princesses was not something he was interested in. Royalty tended
to be fickle and almost never paid on time. Still, Sir Danth had
become a true friend. If the knight wanted to save a princess, who
was he to say no. “Alright. After we finish our current business,
we’ll see about the princess. If it’s within our abilities, I don’t
see why we can’t give saving her a try.”

He was quick enough to dodge the next pat on
the back. “That is excellent, Master Tathan,” the knight said with
a smile. At least Tathan got the impression that Sir Danth was
smiling.

Tathan looked again at the dark platemail
that made up the knight. He could see barely perceptible runes
throughout and knew they channeled extraordinary power. The most
powerful wizards of the ancient civilization had made it. The hilt
of a greatsword rose above his shoulder. Tathan had seen him whirl
the beast of a weapon around, cutting through anything, including
stone. The helmet had ridges with sharp grooves on it that would
break swords should they hit him there. The eye and mouth slits
were small, making it easy to hide the fact that he was without a
body. Sir Danth’s overall look was intimidating down to the blood
red cloak that flowed down to his feet and never seemed to become
soiled. Most people avoided irritating the daunting figure, and
that included the Rojuun. Somehow, with all that armor, Sir Danth
still managed to convey expressions and mood when he wished.

Tathan looked around the merchant’s plaza as
they walked through. It was cleaner and less raucous than most
markets that he had seen in his travels. The merchants sold their
wares enthusiastically, but didn’t try to push them on a person to
the point of being obnoxious. He found it amusing to see a few
vendors that sold wings for humans to wear, much like the ones on
the buildings. They were a favorite of children. In fact, he had
even seen a couple of Rojuun children wearing them.

A few minutes later, they were at the White
Tree Inn, a large stone building that took up half a block, with
stables taking up the other half. Hulda, a jovial woman from the
kingdom of Swelth, owned it. She and her sister, Renna, had
traveled to Puujan in order to get away from unrest between
bickering lords in their country. The smell of cooking breakfast
wafted from the kitchen windows causing Tathan’s stomach to growl
in anticipation.

They entered the common room and saw Liselle
and Vevin sitting at a table. The couple waved them over. A
waitress told Tathan that she would bring him breakfast right away,
having already brought food for Liselle and Vevin.

“How were your nighttime adventures,
Tathan?” Liselle asked.

“It was uneventful,” he lied. “You look as
though you were crying. Is everything alright?” he asked, giving
Vevin a suspicious glance.

Liselle narrowed her eyes. “Everything is
fine and don’t look at Vevin like that. I was crying for the loss
of our family, but Vevin held me and let me release some of my
grief.” Liselle smiled sadly. “It still hurts, but not so much and
I feel better now.”

Sorrow clenched Tathan’s heart for a split
second before he took a deep breath to let it go. The loss of his
mother and family had hurt, but years of traveling and watching the
suffering of others had toughened him. “I’m sorry, cousin.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’m handling it. I
was in a safe place this morning with someone I love.”

“Alright,” he said with a nod. “I still
worry about you is all. How are you two feeling?”

“I’m doing much better, as is Vevin,” she
answered.

Vevin nodded in agreement. “Oh yes! I’m
still not at full strength, but I can handle . . . well, just about
anything.” He chuckled and the rest of them laughed. Dragons were
the most powerful creatures in the world and anything that would
attack them was positively stupid.

“We’re well enough to travel. In fact, we
wanted to talk to you about that, Tathan,” Liselle said.

“Mmmph?” Tathan asked. The waitress had
brought his food and he already had a bite in his mouth before she
finished setting it down. He tried swallowing before he was
finished chewing, but ended up choking on it. Sir Danth banged on
his back helpfully. After a few strangled noises, the food slid to
his stomach. He leaned on the table, gasping to regain control. His
companion’s hysterical laughter didn’t help. “What did you want to
talk about, Cousin?” he asked.

Liselle wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
“I wanted to let you know that Vevin and I are ready to travel. We
were wondering what the plans are.”

“Right, plans.” Tathan thought about it for
a minute then shrugged. “I don’t see any reason not to leave right
after breakfast. How long will it take you to get ready?” he asked
them.

“About half an hour. We don’t have a lot,”
Liselle answered.

“It will take me all day to get ready,” Sir
Danth told them. “. . . Why are you all staring at me like that? I
have tons of things to get ready. My extra cloak must be folded
exactly right you know.”

After a pause, they burst into laughter
again. Sir Danth didn’t have anything extra besides a cloak made
for him in the Rojuun caverns. He was always ready to go.

Tathan took a drink of juice that had come
with the meal. “After we eat, gather your things and we’ll head out
to the gate. Then we’ll go to deliver our report to Mother
Tree.”

“What are we going to tell the guards about
why we’re leaving?” Sir Danth asked. “We don’t want to make them
suspicious in case there is a need to come back at some point.”

“We’re going to tell them we don’t like it
here and want to go home.” Tathan looked around to make sure nobody
could overhear. “I figure if we say the Rojuun are too weird and we
don’t like the way they treat us, they’ll understand.”

“I don’t think they’re weird,” said Vevin.
“I kind of like them.”

“I like them too, but we need an excuse and
that’s a good one,” Tathan replied. “If we decide to come back, we
can just say the Druids wouldn’t let us past.” He leaned back in
his chair.

Sir Danth nodded. “It is a good plan. I say
we go with it.”

After eating, they gathered their things and
said farewell to Hulda. If the innkeeper had had her way, she would
have kept them there the entire day saying goodbye, but Tathan
managed to get them away.

The companions strolled to the forest gate.
The sun had risen, bathing the city in warm light. A slight breeze
caused the wings to flutter. Vevin had mentioned wanting to see it
from the air once and Tathan imagined it would be a breathtaking
sight.

The large gate was closed as usual. It was
made for wagons and larger traffic, none of which went into the
forest. Those foragers brave enough to go outside exited through
the postern gate, which was where the party went.

Outside the gate were four members of the
guard dressed in chainmail and red tabards. Sergeant Soam, who had
been there when the companions first came to the city, commanded
them. “Hello there. What brings you back to this neck of the woods,
so to speak?” The other guards rolled their eyes and went back to
being bored.

Tathan altered his voice to a drawl. “Well
now, those Rojuun are some funny folk and, don’t tell them I said
this, but they talk weird.”

The sergeant chuckled again. “Aye. That they
do. Lots of people like it, but some just can’t get used to
it.”

“The hardest part was being told I had to do
things all the time.” Tathan stood up tall and poked his thumb to
his chest. “I’m my own man and there ain’t no person or . . .
Rojuun that’s going to go around telling me what to do all the
time.”

“Well now. I told you they consider us
servants.” The sergeant put a hand on the hilt of his sword. The
subtle gesture caused the other guards to straighten and become
alert. “You didn’t do anything stupid, did you?”

The air became tense and the companions knew
things could go very bad, very fast. Tathan waved for everyone to
relax. “Nah, nah. It isn’t like that. I haven’t stayed alive this
long because I’m stupid or anything.” Liselle and the guards
frowned while trying to interpret what he just said. “We didn’t do
nothing stupid or cause any trouble. We behaved,” he reassured the
guards.

The sergeant took his hand off the hilt and
relaxed. “Aye then. You didn’t seem the sort when you came through,
but you never know.” The guards relaxed and went back to looking at
the trees as though hoping something would happen just to relieve
the monotony. “So does this mean you’re leaving?”

“Yeah. We’re going back to the west,” Tathan
said. “Maybe we’ll head to Dralin after that or something. I hear
there’s always adventure there.”

“Aye. Dangerous city though.” He looked at
Tathan with concern. “Do you think the Druids will let you through
the forest again?”

Tathan shrugged. “Well they let us come here
didn’t they? I don’t see why they wouldn’t let us back.”

Sergeant Soam didn’t look convinced. “I hope
so. I’ll say a prayer out after you if nothing else.” He clapped
Tathan on the shoulder. It was much softer than Sir Danth’s
gestures of friendship. “Safe journey to you.”

“Thank you for that,” Tathan replied with a
smile and a similar clap on the shoulder.